Prominent Lib Dem councillor denies he wanted to stand for party leadership

Martin Shipton

A prominent Welsh Liberal Democrat councillor who has been touted as a potential leader of the party has said it “makes sense” for the leader to be a parliamentarian.

Rodney Berman currently leads the Lib Dem opposition group on Cardiff Council, having previously led the council between 2004 and 2012.

Last month, Jane Dodds, who sits as an MS for Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd, announced that she was standing down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats after nine years in the role. In 2019, she spent three months as MP for the former constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire, winning the seat in a by-election but losing it back to the Conservatives at the subsequent general election.

Under the party’s current rules, only MSs and MPs are initially eligible to stand for leader of the Welsh Lib Dems. With Ms Dodds standing down and serving as the party’s only MS, the only eligible successor at this stage is David Chadwick, who was elected MP for the new seat of Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe in 2024. He is the only Lib Dem MP elected from Wales.

A political source told us that a motion had been submitted to the Welsh Liberal Democrats’ autumn conference that would allow councillors to stand for the party leadership too. The conference is due to take place in Aberystwyth on November 21 and 22.

The source told us: “There is some dissatisfaction in the party, which thinks too much attention is being paid to the Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe constituency and not enough to winning back support that has been lost in cities like Cardiff and Swansea.

“Rodney Berman is a very experienced campaigner and would make a good party leader. But it’s been suggested that Jane Dodds stepped down at this time so David Chadwick could take over before there was a possible rule change that would allow others like Rodney to stand.”

We asked Cllr Berman whether he would have liked the opportunity to put his name forward for the leadership.

He said: “I am employed as a senior policy executive by BMA Cymru, and it wouldn’t be possible for me to take on the responsibility of leading the party because of my work commitments. I also think it makes sense for the party leader to be a parliamentarian.”

Favour

A Welsh Liberal Democrat source told Nation.Cymru: “It doesn’t ring true that Jane Dodds would stand down as party leader in order to do a favour for David Chadwick. While they work together OK, they’re not very close and are very different kinds of politician.

“The fact is that the party has been pretty unsuccessful under Jane Dodds’ leadership – we still have just one MS and one MP. It’s far more likely that she has recognised that and has decided to step down and let someone else have a go.”

Mr Chadwick is due to take over as party leader on November 16 and deliver a keynote speech that day setting out his vision for the future of Wales and his plans to rebuild the party as a political force.